Instagram launches its Account Verification Program

Are you eligible for the Blue Tick?

Instagram introduces its verification process to all users on its platform. Instagram users with large audiences or digital influencers as they would liked to be addressed, can request for verification of their accounts through a form available on the app.

Similar to the policies adopted by parent company Facebook and also the micro blogging platform, Twitter, Instagram Verified accounts will have a blue tick next to their username authenticating that the account is genuine. Certain criteria have been laid down and the accounts will be verified only post due compliance process done by the company.

Process to apply for a verified account on Instagram:

Go to your profile on Instagram and open the Settings menu

Scroll down to the bottom and select “Request Verification”

You will then need to provide your username, full name and a copy of your legal or business identification.

Once your request is reviewed, you will receive a notification confirming or declining it.

Google Image

As reported by Reuters, apart with verification requests, Instagram also made two new additional announcements, which also form a part of its “About This Account” feature. Users will now be able to evaluate the authenticity of accounts by allowing them to see the advertisements an account is running, the country where the account is located, username changes in the past year as well as other details.

Instagram co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Mike Krieger said,

Keeping people with bad intentions off our platform is incredibly important … that means trying to make sure the people you follow and the accounts you interact with are who they say they are, and stopping bad actors before they cause harm.

Instagram also confirmed that it would permit the use of third-party apps such as DUO Mobile and Google Authenticator for two-factor authentication to help users securely log in to their accounts.

Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security on top of usernames and passwords by prompting users for information they have access to.

Earlier this month, Facebook too introduced this feature for users who managed pages with a large U.S. following, seeking to make it harder to administer a page using a fake or compromised account.

The Photo Sharing App has hinted that these features will be broadly available in the coming weeks to all users.

Google Image

It is suggested that unless you are a “well-known, highly searched for person, brand or entity” it will be probably impossible for you to get the prestigious blue tick. Instagram rationalizes further that it will review and access accounts “featured in multiple news sources” organically and paid content doesn’t count.

Instagram is a photo and video sharing app launched in 2010. After its launch the app rapidly gained popularity, with one million registered users in two months and has reportedly touched 800 million as of September 2017.